Abstract:

This research presents in detail two collections which are taken as examples of the East Asian art collecting in Milan. The first collection, that of Count Passalacqua, is proposed as an archetype of Japanese and Chinese art collecting in Milan in the early seventies of the 19th century. At that time, the rich trade in silkworm eggs between Italy and Japan boosted a parallel trade in Asian art. The Passalacqua collection can therefore be a useful point of comparison for the interpretation of other Italian collections collected in the same historical moment. The second group of objects analyzed in this research concern a private collection of celadons, which was formed around 1970. This collection is proposed as a model of “typological” collecting. Alongside the study of these two collections, the main historical collections of Chinese and Japanese art in Milan are introduced in order to highlight the changing trends occurred in Milan over a century.